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There are a lot of resources on-line that give great tips for moving into a new home. Here are nine that might come in handy:

Make an investment in your marriage and friendships – hire movers. Don’t eat for a month, sell your car and ride a bike to work, sell a kidney…just do whatever it takes. Hire people to carry and transport your stuff! You will not regret it.

Ok, ok, hiring movers won’t work for everyone. If you can’t hire movers, start sucking up to your truck-owning friends several months before the move. Do not wait until you have announced that you’re moving. That’s too obvious. If you have friends who own trucks, think strategically. Birthday cards, un-solicited acts of kindness, etc. The key is getting them to a point where helping you move is their idea. Or better yet, the idea of the truck-owners spouse. Here’s what you want her to say, “Honey, did you hear that ______________is moving? They’re so nice, why don’t you offer to help them. You have a truck and they are our only friends who remember our birthday and offer to bring ice cream when they go to Braums.”

You also need at least one “geek friend” to help you move. Who else is going to reconnect all your electronics? Research shows that 95 percent of cussing occurs when working on electronics. Ok…that’s made up, but it seems right. You can use the same tactic mentioned above to recruit your geek friend. Do not make them carry stuff. They have one job – to get your TV, Computer, and Stereo working.

Personally carry and transport your own underwear. No matter who helps you move, at least one box always gets dropped with the contents sprawling out all over the place. That box is always an underwear box. Take that one on yourself.

Guard all remote controls with your life. They always end up in a box with dishes or socks or garage stuff. You can lose lots of things and get over it, but you do not want to lose the remote control to your TV. You won’t go buy a new one because you’ll convince yourself that, “it’s got to be somewhere.” But you’ll never find it.

Threaten to fire all of your service providers (phone, cable, internet, etc.). “Since I’m moving I think I’ll take this opportunity to switch providers.” Maybe you’ll get a cost reduction or cool incentive.

Do not put boxes with household items in the garage of your new home. Period. Put them in the house. If you have to walk around something it increases the likelihood that you’ll open it and put it away. If you set it down in the garage, even for a moment, you will never open it. Even if it’s full of cash. You’ll always say, “It’s out the garage. I’ll get it this weekend.”Go meet you rnew neighbors instantly. Don’t wait for them to come to you. They are secretly making irrational judgments about you by the stuff coming out of the moving van. Go to their house and say the following, “Hi, we’re the ________________. We are so excited to move in. We’ve heard great things about the people who live here. If we ever do anything to annoy you, please do not hesitate to tell us – we have thick skin. Once we’re settled we really want to get to know you better.” Then say something nice about their home. Now you’ll get the benefit of the doubt.

Finally, set up the guest bedroom first. If you have family in town to help you move, they will most likely offer to stay at a hotel or with another relative. This seems like a good idea, but it is not. Insist that they stay with you. When you’re moving in, they are not family any more, they are your workers. You do not want them to leave. Who knows when they’ll be back. As soon as you release them…you lose control! If you allow them to leave the premises, they tend to take long lunches and run personal errands. Take advantage of them while you have them there.